


Freckles

by o_WinterQueen_o



Category: Bleach
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cute, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Freckles, Gentle Kissing, IchiHime Being Adorable and Supportive, Just A Couple of Orange Dorks Being Adorable, Kissing in the Rain, Not Really Noticeable But There, Post-Canon, Pre-Epilogue, Rain, Slice of Life, mentions of bullying, soft, vague allusions to PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:13:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/o_WinterQueen_o/pseuds/o_WinterQueen_o
Summary: It was in the split second he took to unlock his phone that everything went wrong.In which Orihime and Ichigo are a pair of loving and supportive dorks that dare to be orange.
Relationships: Inoue Orihime/Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Freckles

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy y'all, it's ya girl Kari, shaking things up for once!! IchiHime never really used to be my jam, but I've grown to like it more and more over the years. ShiroIchi is still my main ship but I just,,, love the idea of these oranges being happy together,,,, so much. 
> 
> If you read any of my other nonsense, you might know I'm going to be writing in the Bleach Big Bang 2021 ^^ I'm super excited to get things going and everyone who's signed up so far has some really awesome ideas * O * There's still a couple of days left for writers to sign up though, so if you're into that kinda thing, you should totally check it out!! I'll include links for more info in the endnotes ^^ 
> 
> Anyways, this is probably going to be the last fic I post for a bit while I get my bang fics geared up (I'm co-writing two with Ash!!) unless school decides to stop kicking my ass. I'm going to try to update TRHOM, but no guarantees. Now! On with the Disaster Bisexual Oranges!

The first time Ichigo saw Orihime without makeup, it was a complete accident. 

It was winter. It was raining. Not torrential, but hard enough to require an umbrella. Hard enough to make them grateful that both their winter coats were also waterproof. 

They were walking down the street in a cute shopping district in this quaint little beach town they'd gone to when the rain started. Orihime had offered that they take cover in one of the nearby shops until the storm passed, but Ichigo declined. She loved the rain and he knew that. She'd offered to wait it out for his sake because she knew him all too well to not notice the new line of tension in his shoulders as he pulled out his umbrella. 

Ichigo was, of course, grateful for the consideration, but he didn't want to let those old anxieties that bubbled up within him whenever it rained to delay them today. After three hours on a cramped train and a small near disaster at check-in at the hotel (in which they thought their reservation had fallen through only to find that, thankfully, they were merely at the wrong hotel), he didn't want to make her wait any longer. Orihime had wanted to try out the cafe in this town for ages now and they were going to get there dammit!

"I'm fine, Orihime, don't worry about it." The reassuring grin upon his lips was genuine, so she let it pass. That didn't stop her from wrapping both her arms around his which held their umbrella and rubbing slow gentle circles over his bicep with her thumb.

Heart pounding in his chest with the overwhelming swell of affection that her actions brought forth, Ichigo couldn't help but press a kiss to her forehead, his cheeks burning all the while. Here and now, there was no sweeter woman in the world than Orihime.

She giggled and gave his arm a soft squeeze as they resumed their walk. They probably looked like a couple straight out of some shoujo romance anime like this, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel the slightest bit embarrassed. Being like this with her… it made a warm feeling content swell in his chest that contrasted sharply with the winter weather. 

It was quiet, save the sound of falling rain, whistling wind, distant tide, and the muffled chatter and music from several of the shops they passed as they walked through the shopping district. This town was so much smaller than Karakura, there wasn't even noise from traffic. It really was nice. Serene even, despite the rain.

"I can't wait until we get to the cafe! It's supposed to have the best eclairs in all of Japan and really really cute wagashi and taiyaki!! Ahhh and they have these western cream cakes that I wanna try so bad!!"

Ichigo chuckled lightly at her enthusiasm, his free hand coming up to cover hers where they rested on his arm and squeezed lightly, "Don't worry, we're almost there, Hime."

She beamed at him, face bright and open as she began chattering on some more about the things she wanted to try and things she thought he would like. He listened and nodded, only paying half attention as he did his best to navigate the unfamiliar town. "One sec lemme check the map again."

It was in the split second he took to unlock his phone that everything went wrong. 

Not paying mind to anything except typing his phone pin in one-handed, his grip on the umbrella loosened by the smallest margin just as the wind picked up, whipping the umbrella back, just as they were nearing a roof gutter that was gushing water. At any other time, the water would have hit the ground and probably only splashed their feet, but the strong wind had other ideas for it. With the wind blowing so hard, the gutter's stream curved back, right into Orihime's face.

Orihime let out a surprised 'eek' as she received a face full of cold gutter water. Ichigo jerked both of them back instinctively at the sound, still not having fully registered what just happened, Turning to Orihime in concern, his eyes widened as he took in the sight of her trying to rub rainwater out of her eyes as the skies continued to pour down around them. 

"Shit—hold on." He muttered, jerking the umbrella back into its proper shape and pulling it over them hastily. Free arm wrapped around Orihime's waist, he pushed them briskly past the still gushing gutter so they could hide under the awning of the shop just ahead of it. 

The awning was clearly waterproof, as proven by the dry tables and chairs sheltered beneath it—perfect. Without wasting a moment, he tossed his phone on a table, jammed the umbrella into one of the chairs in a way so the wind wouldn't carry it away, and began undoing his scarf. 

"Here, lemme help…" The fabric of the scarf was far more absorbent than that of her coat. He didn't wait for her to respond, simply began gently dabbing at her face with the fabric.

“Ichi-kun!” Her muffled laughter could be heard behind the scarf as she raised her hands and began waving them rapidly to signal him to stop. 

“You okay?!” he pulled the scarf away hastily, his voice rising as he searched her face for any sign of some sort of injury, but her eyes were sparkling with amusement. 

"Thanks, Ichi-kun, but I've got it." She giggled as she took the scarf from him gently. 

He exhaled softly, a tension he didn’t realize he had eased as he nodded. He leaned on the table as he watched her wipe the water off her own face. She was far more efficient and calm about it than he had been. 

As she wiped the water from beneath her eyes, he noticed something about her change in a way he couldn’t quite place. He took a step forward, leaning in to get a better look at her cheeks. Did his scarf give her a rash? 

“Eh?!” She let the hand holding the scarf fall away from her face as he leaned in, looking up at him with confusion as he reached to cup her cheek in his hand and run his thumb carefully over the skin there “Ichi-kun, what…?” she trailed off, suddenly flushing, “Oh no my make-up…”

Her skin was smooth under his touch and his brows furrowed at her words before it hit him. **_‘_** Oh! She has freckles. **’**

It hadn’t clicked right away because he never really realized Orihime wore makeup. Like, of course, he knew she wore  _ some _ . The eyeliner was subtle, but Karin had bullied him into buying her some—and letting her practice using it on him—enough times that he could recognize it was there, and he wasn’t so much of an idiot to not know when she was and wasn't wearing eyeshadow or lipstick. He just…never really realized she wore it on the rest of her face too. 

Orihime took a step back, covering her flushed face with both of her hands. “Ahhh, Ichi-kun I’m so sorry I got my make-up all over your scarf!” She was shaking her head rapidly as she spoke, and honestly, it would have been amusing if he didn’t know overblown apologies to be one of her key tactics to masking her own distress. 

“It’s no big deal, Hime,” he assured her, moving to stand in front of her again and gently taking her wrists in his hands, tugging slightly, but not forcing her to move them away from her face. “Are you okay?”

Orihime raised her head, fingers parting around her eyes so she could peek between them up at his worried visage. “I’m perfectly fine Ichi-kun! C’mon, let’s go to the cafe! Here, I’ll put your scarf in my bag so I can remember to wash it for you when we get back to the hotel!!”

Her voice was perfectly chipper but she was still blushing like crazy. Still fidgeting in that anxious way she did when she wanted to avoid talking about something.

“Orihime, come on, what’s wrong?” he ran his thumb in gentle circles over the backs of her hands, still in place over her face, as he wracked his brain to figure out the cause of her sudden mood switch. She’s been fine, calm and giggly even, as he fretted over her… until she realized… “Is this about your makeup coming off?”

Ichigo wouldn’t have thought she could go any redder, but somehow she managed it, “I mean—ano, it’s just—you see—!”

“Hime…” his tone was imploring, but gentle. No use in letting her splutter and make herself more flustered than she already was. 

“…Maybe a little…?” she mumbled, her voice almost lost beneath the sound of the rain. 

“A little?” Ichigo raised his eyebrow. “Come on Hime, talk to me.”

“It’s just…” He could see how she shifted her weight as she rocked minutely on the balls of her feet. Ichigo could easily picture her biting her lip behind the cover of her hands as she chose her words as he’d seen her do countless times over. 

“It’s just…gah!” she began shaking her head once more, fingers closing and once again concealing her eyes, “It’s so childish and embarrassing! And it shouldn’t be, I know, but ahhhh! I just feel so embarrassed when anyone sees my face without make-up!” She paused in her movements to peak up at him once more, “How silly is that?” 

“It’s not silly, Hime,” he answered immediately. He didn’t really  _ understand _ where she was coming from but if it evoked this much of a reaction out of her, he didn’t care what it was, it was absolutely  _ not _ silly. 

“You really think so?” 

“I mean…” he glanced down, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck, “I don’t really get why you’d get embarrassed over it because you’re really pretty. Makeup or no makeup, I lo—I mean… I think you have a really nice face—” His face was starting to match hers as heat made itself known upon his cheeks. Dammit! Why was this so hard?! “A-Anyways, I… I might not get it, but… But if you think it’s important—if you care so much about it, I mean, then it’s not silly. Not to me at least…”

“Ahhhh, Ichi-kun! You can’t just say stuff like that.” her forehead came to rest against his bicep, hands falling away from her face soon after to snake around his torso as she pulled him into a hug. “You’re too cute, my poor heart can’t take it!”

“Hime!” Ichigo could feel his ears absolutely burning, and judging by the way her shoulders were shaking with what he suspected was barely restrained laughter, she probably knew that too. 

Orihime let go after a moment, eyes sparkling once more, but this time there was the smallest hint of shame in her voice. “You’re too good to me Ichi-kun… For a second there… I didn’t want to tell you because I was afraid you’d laugh at me or get upset…”

“Why would I—?” 

“It’s just… I wear makeup because I hate my freckles. You know how it is… People always like picking on the ones who look different… Girls in grade school always liked to tease me about them, so before I started middle school, I started wearing makeup to hide them.”

“Before Tatsuki started beating the snot out of your bullies.” Ichigo nodded. It wasn’t a surprise, not really. “Why would you think I’d get upset though?” 

She stared at him for a moment before reaching up to cup his face. Her thumb brushed against his cheek slowly, deliberately and suddenly he felt silly. “You have freckles too, but you don’t ever hide them… I just… Didn’t want you to think I thought they were bad or something… Which—I mean, I obviously don’t but— ”

Now Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh, “Come on Hime, I know you better than that.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, grinning ear to ear. “Last week you drew constellations on my face while I was asleep and called me your masterpiece, remember?” 

“I know, I know, I was being silly!” she scrunched up her nose at him. “Stop laughing at me, and let’s go to the cafe! I kept you out in the rain with this for far too long with this.” 

“Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in mock defeat, still chuckling. “Lemme check the directions real quick.” 

Turning back to the table where he left his phone, he grabbed and unlocked it to pull up the maps app. “It looks like…” his brows furrowed as he enlarged the map on his screen. “I think… We’re here?”

“We are?!” Orihime asked, wide-eyed, before ducking her head out from under the awning to see the cafe’s name, Umigame Cafe!, emblazoned on the storefront. “You’re right, we are. Oh well, at least we don’t have to walk in the cold anymore.”

They glanced inside the cheerily lit windows of the cafe, noticing only a handful of patrons scattered around the interior and several employees lolling around the register—and half of them seemed to be hurriedly looking away, as if… Oh no… 

“I think…” Ichigo began, voice laden with disbelief. “We just gave everyone in there a show.” 

“That’s what it looks like…” She glanced away from the window, cheeks tinged with pink as her gaze fell to him and then to the floor. “Do you still want to go inside…? We can come back tomorrow if—”

“Whatever you wanna do Hime, you know I don’t care what people think. You’re the only one that matters here.” She glanced up at him, and he smiled at her, lopsided and gentle. 

“Ichi-kun you’re so cute when you get all sappy on me, you know that right?” She turned to grab their discarded umbrella, wrapping it up nonchalantly as Ichigo sputtered. “Come on let’s go!” she sidled up to him, wrapping his arms in both of her own once more. “We didn’t come all the way out here for nothing.”

Ichigo couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “Alright Hime, let’s go.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please review!! I know it says complete but I think I might try for a quick cute bit with them actually eating at the cafe since I googled Japanese Eclairs and holy heck do I want some now
> 
> Also, for those of you interested in the Bleach Big Bang: here's the [tumblr](http://bleachbigbang.tumblr.com/), and here's the [carrd](http://bleachbigbang.carrd.co/)! Both have all the same info about what a bang is and how to sign up ^^ Act fast though!! Sign-ups for writers close October 9th, 2020. (November 9th for artists)


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